Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Climate Change "Enlightenment"

Hanging over everything is the growing recognition that the United States isn't going to play. Not this year, perhaps not in any year. If Congress couldn't pass a climate bill so feeble that it consisted of little but loopholes while Barack Obama was president and the Democrats had a majority in both houses, where does hope lie for action in other circumstances? Last Tuesday the Guardian reported that of 48 Republican contenders for the Senate elections in November only one accepted that man-made climate change is taking place. Who was he? Mike Castle of Delaware. The following day he was defeated by the Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell, producing a full house of science deniers. The enlightenment? Fun while it lasted.--George Monbiot

Don't feel too smug. It's been a joke and a lie for longer then that. The Kyoto Accords were never even introduced to the Senate for consideration after a straw vote had it losing 92 to 6? Something like that.

It gets better though in that the Kyoto Accords was shot through with loopholes for the signatories and all but one, Norway with its access to North Sea gas, has used those loopholes to avoid officially failing to live up to their obligations.

And in more hopeful news, the wasteful subsidy for ethanol-which has done little to stem gasoline prices and which has effectively raised the cost of most animal related food products-are going away. Good riddance.